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Smoky Mountain football team to begin preseason practice Monday
Smoky Mountain’s football practice for the coming season will begin at 5 p.m. Monday, July 30, for varsity and JV players.
Those on the 7-9 grade team will continue with workouts until they start practice Aug. 15.
All players must have a current physical before beginning practice.
“I’ve really enjoyed our summer,” Coach Dale Galloway said. “Our kids have worked very hard and have a great attitude.”
The Mustangs went 6-6 and reached the state 2-A playoffs in Galloway’s first season after going 1-10 the previous two years.
“The message we’re trying to give our kids is that was great but none of it carries over,” Galloway said. “It’s a brand new start. You can’t just assume we’re going to do something better or worse. Each individual season is its own thing. Hopefully, they understand that. I believe they do.”
Preparing for this season is different for Galloway than was last year after he arrived from Ashe County.
“It’s not just a comparison from February last year when I first came here until the season began but more a perspective of last season to this season,” he said. “A year’s worth of the same terminology helps a little. The kids understand their assignments better.”
The Mustangs played a pair of seven on seven passing scrimmages this summer with Cherokee as well as seven on seven competition with Madison, Erwin and Mitchell.
“The weakest part of our game was the passing offense, and we gave up some big pass plays,” the coach said. “Anytime you take what you did the worst and work on it, you’re going to start finding ways to get better. The kids have really tried to get better through those sessions.”
The players will be allowed to wear helmets the first three days of practice then add shoulder pads. Contact will start on the seventh day.
The Mustangs are set to have a home scrimmage at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 9, against Rosman, Galloway’s alma mater. However, construction at the school and the resulting loss of parking may cause that contest to be moved to Rosman.
The parking issue should be resolved by the time Hendersonville comes here for the regular season opener Aug. 17.
“We’ve got the maximum number of opportunities to play in front of our home crowd,” Galloway said. “We have six regular season home games. We played some pretty good football at home this past year. You always want to play well at home.”
The Western Athletic Conference should again be tough. Galloway said he doesn’t anticipate much of a falloff from Pisgah or Brevard. He noted East Henderson had a strong JV team.
“Hopefully, we can get in that mix,” the coach said. “We play in an extremely competitive conference. Playing the level of competition we do will help us if we get to the playoffs again.”
In addition to looking to improve on the passing offense and defense, Galloway said the kicking game will also be a point of emphasis. Grant Schallock, who had an outstanding season as a punter and place kicker a year ago, has departed for North Carolina (see related story in sports section).
“Our strengths are our conditioning and work ethic,” Galloway said. “We’re a lot more physically capable. It’s one thing to want to do well, but it’s a different thing to get your body ready to do what you need to do. Our biggest asset is the fact our kids are willing to work.”
The Mustangs will open the season at home Aug. 17 against Hendersonville, and Galloway said the players can’t wait.
“The kids are ready to get going,” he said. “They wish they could put pads on right now.”
The schedule is as follows with all games having 7:30 p.m. start times:
Aug. 17 – Hendersonville; 24 – at Swain; 31 – Hayesville.
Sept. 7 – at Murphy; 14 – Franklin; 28 – at Tuscola.
Oct. 5 – at Brevard; 12 – East Henderson; 19 – North Henderson; 26 – at West Henderson.
Nov. 2 – Pisgah.
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